Chavez withdraws as Labor nominee

Labor Secretary-designate Linda Chavez withdrew as President-elect Bush's nominee for Labor secretary Tuesday afternoon. Chavez had come under intense criticism in the past few days for allowing an illegal immigrant to stay in her house during the 1990s. While Chavez believes she would have made a "great" Labor secretary, she said she decided she had "become a distraction" to Bush and asked him to withdraw her nomination. Surrounded by her family and immigrants who spoke of how Chavez had helped them establish themselves in the United States, Chavez blamed the media for making more of the illegal immigrant story than it deserved. "Unfortunately, because of the way the story has been played over the last couple of days... [the media] have made a great deal more of this story than need be... and not told the story of some of the people around me, I have decided that I am becoming a distraction," Chavez said. Chavez also blamed Washington politics of "personal destruction," saying it sends a "very bad signal to all those good people out there that want to serve their government." While there was no immediate discussion of a possible replacement for Chavez, contenders whose names surfaced in the days leading to her selection included former Rep. Jim Talent, R-Mo., who gave up his House seat last fall to make an unsuccessful run for governor of Missouri and who recently took a teaching position with Washington University; Rich Bond, a former RNC chairman who served in the administration of Bush's father; Rep. Jennifer Dunn, R-Wash.; Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., and GOP Gov. John Rowland of Connecticut.